Cruel Love
by StaySee
Summary: AU-High School Setting. Kagome has had one-sided hots for her best friend InuYasha for the better part of her high school years. What shall happen after his careless ways take Kagome to her final breaking point?
1. Chapter 1

Cruel Love

Hello dear readers! Welcome to my first story…I sincerely hope you enjoy it, and maybe leave me some feedback? Please excuse any grammatical and/or spelling errors you may encounter…perhaps be so kind as to let me know! I'll start this story out as T rating, and if I overcome my shyness of citrus writing, I might bump the rating up to M. Also, there is no definite story pairing yet…as I still don't know how it will end either! The main pairings are I/Ka, N/Ka, M/S, I/Ki. Please give this story, and perhaps a strange pairing the chance to unravel! Enjoy your reading!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any small part of InuYasha manga or anime, and I make no money from writing this story. I also do not own any other brand-name companies/products I happen to mention.

**Chapter 1**

"Hellooo, Earth to Kagome." A skinny hand waved inches away from Kagome's face, making her snap out of her daze.

Kagome's brown eyes quickly turned away from the couple she was watching and met with Sango's own chocolate pools. "Huh?" was the only thing she could muster.

"You've been staring at them for like 10 minutes now." Sango said, rolling her eyes, but watching for Kagome's reaction anyways.

"Oh…uhh, oops. I guess I got carried away with my homework thoughts." Said Kagome, trying to desperately hide and play down her blushing cheeks. She bowed her head, letting the dark silk of her bangs and side tresses shield her face from the world.

"That's ok, it happens." Sango replied, looking at her friend with such pity and understanding now. The four of them, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha were all sitting and eating their lunch in the school cafeteria, like always, when _she_ showed up. _She_ had chilling brown eyes, loose hairpieces from both sides, and a line for a mouth that almost never stretched to a smile. Kikyou stole Inuyasha's attention from day one.

"So, how are you and Miroku doing?" Kagome looked up at Sango once more, and turned the blushing tables on her best girlfriend. Kagome's own lips stretched into a smile when she saw a look on Sango's face that revealed that they were definitely doing well.

"What? What nonsense! We have only been doing homework together!" Sango said very quickly and immediately turned around to see if Miroku had come back from the library yet. Her eyes suddenly stopped on his powerful form hovering over the freshmen girls' table and she narrowed her eyes in a murderous manner.

"Kagome…I'll be back in a flash. I have some _business_ I have to take care of!" She gritted out and stormed off to her embarrassing crush.

Kagome giggled, seeing Sango's mad determination. Her giggles died out quickly when she once more saw Inuyasha and Kikyou sitting on a separate bench and looking oh-so very in love. They were looking at each other with calm intensity and appearing to be saying something serious. Blades pricked Kagome's heart and she buried her head in her arms, resting both on the lunch table. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to erase the image, but of course, failed miserably. What happened? She and Inuyasha have known each other for as long as their memories stretched. Although never wearing "best friends 4ever" bracelets, both knew each other better than even their mothers. Kagome had never expected see him as anything but her annoying best friend, but of course, love snuck up and captured her without permission. She noticed that she wanted to always be with him, to always talk to him. Suddenly, everything he said and did was so fresh and new, it wouldn't fit anybody else but him. She always wanted to feel his touch…

"…always, I mean ALWAYS preying on innocent girls? FRESHMEN nonetheless!" Sango's voice jolted Kagome out of her thoughts and she saw Sango dragging Miroku to the table by his baggy purple shirt. He had a mischievous glint in his amethyst eyes that now went to Sango's behind.

"Oh, but Sango, my dearest! You know that you are the only woman that possesses my heart! Fear nothing!" Miroku replied. They were now standing in front of the lunch table, Sango's face red from fury…or was it embarrassment? She sat across from Kagome, Miroku to her left.

"You guys are sooo cute!" Kagome giggled, making Sango's face go tomato red, Miroku cocking his eyebrow.

"I agree! Sango is cute!-" Miroku started with his wild gesticulations.

"Save it, you lecher!" Sango cut him off, feeling beyond embarrassed. Maybe if she huffed and puffed as if she was angry, she would be successful in masking her embarrassment? Out of the corner of her eye, she admired Miroku's boyishly-charming smile and internally sighed. If only he would feel the same way about her…

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period. Like a giant tidal wave, the 300 or so students dining stood up and started to walk to their next classes. _He didn't even sit with us today…he just came up and made a couple jokes and spent the entire time with Kikyou. Do I mean absolutely nothing to him?...at all? _ Unable to suppress the overflow of sadness, Kagome's tears silently made their way down her cheeks. She saw Inuyasha turn his head, perhaps trying to look for her? So, she did her best to bow her head and blend in with the current of people. There was no way he would see her in this condition…or even begin to suspect how much he hurt her.

Kagome sat behind her desk at home. She got home about 2 hours ago, and was now sitting in her "comfort pants" (You know those old, ugly, but insanely comfortable things? Everyone's got a pair!), and staring at the math homework in front of her. Hmm…let's see…problem one:

**Use synthetic division to factor the following polynomial**

She reread the darn instructions 4 or 5 times before letting out a defeated sigh. _What's the use? I can't keep my mind off of him! _ She sighed. Homework, it seemed, got in the way of her daydreams. As if on a cue, she heard a soft thud behind her, and automatically whipped her head around.

"Inu-Inuyasha?" She watched her best friend get up from the spot in front of her window and dust his clothes of invisible dirt. He told her his secret-that he was actually a half demon and had some special abilities, like jumping very high. When he was old enough, he stopped using the ladder that used to rest next to her window.

"Feh, who do you think?" He replied in his usual rude manner. Kagome just smiled like an idiot and let out a soft sigh. _Oh, for goodness sake! What's wrong with me?! This is just Inuyasha! _ Then the horror came…she was wearing her comfort pants!

"Um, never mind! I'll be riiight back!" She said, grabbing a pair of jeans and heading towards the restroom to change. Inuyasha smirked, so she was worried about her comfort pants, was she?

"If you're going to change your pants, don't even bother." He called out in a taunting voice. He loved coming over to her house and pretty much pestering her all evening about something. The girl stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widened.

"How'd you know?" She said, still not turning around, her face beginning to blush, as always.

"Hey, how long have I known you for, wench? Think I'd know everything about you by now." He huffed and folded his arms, getting somewhat offended that she'd think he was that dense. This however, didn't last long, as Kagome turned around and sent him a death glare. She stomped close to him and shrieked in her insane voice.

"What'd you call me?! You JERK!" She punched him in the shoulder, which he had been expecting. He smirked, but suppressed all signs of happiness, knowing she expected him to be offended.

"Hey! What'cha do that for?? I'm not a jerk!" He argued, refolding his arms.

"What for? You called me a wench! Take it back!" Her face was getting red, from anger, but also from embarrassment of being so close to him. She prayed to all gods that he wouldn't see just how he made her feel.

"Feh, forget it." He said looking, and now giving her an evil smile. This was her cue to get pissed, and boy, did she ever!

"I said TAKE IT BACK!" She punched him on the shoulder again, never admitting that the only reason she did that was because she loved to touch him. His proud posture and folded arms remained still.

"No." He simply said, smiling a little. That was a mistake. She now pushed his chest with both of her hands in fury and sent him flying and crashing on her bed. He was quick to react, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down with him. Her small frame fell on top of his body, Kagome too shocked to process the compromising position she was in. Suddenly, the moment stood frozen in time, as she felt his irregular breath on her shoulder, his chest rising up and down. She raised her face, seeing him staring at her, the light catching his amber eyes, making them glow with softness. The silver hair framing Inuyasha's face made him look ethereal.

Kagome felt the desire and longing arise in her, heart jumping out of her chest. Thump-thump, did he even hear it? She wanted to kiss him…feel his lips…run her fingers through that hair.

"What're you looking at?" He said, softly, wondering about the intense look she was giving him now. It was as if she was studying him…but there was also some foreign feeling in her dark brown eyes he couldn't recognize, but that made him feel strange. As soon as he asked it, he saw shock and embarrassment in her eyes, blood flooding to her face.

"Nothing…I…um…spaced out." She said lamely, embarrassment burning through her chest now. _Did I completely lose it?! I can't just stare at him!_She quickly jumped off of her bed and plopped on her computer chair, afraid to look at him once more.

"Yeah, whatever…it's so damn boring at my house." He said, throwing his head back and staring at the ceiling. There were several plastic stars that glowed in the dark glued to it. _Kagome…she always did like stars_.

"So, why don't you go hang out with your girlfriend?" Said Kagome, staring at the computer screen and trying her hardest to keep the hurt out of her voice. He didn't catch on, but glanced at her nonetheless. Her dark bangs were now shielding her eyes.

"She has some family plans or something." He paused. "Geez, Kagome…I feel really loved. You want to get rid of me so badly?" He said with a smirk. What was it about him liking the way she got embarrassed?

"Of course not, you baka! I was just trying to make conversation…but you managed to drive me into a corner anyways." She said, rolling her eyes, but glancing at him with a smile.

When they were younger, they'd always play games, and have pretend wars and weapons. Now that they got older, the communication was basically playful, flirty even. Inuyasha would embarrass the girl and she'd fight him.

"And why not? Better in the corner than in the gutter." He smirked once more, but this time Kagome's eyes widened and cheeks were flaming red. He burst out laughing at her expression. She was so innocent, even slight mention of such activities, from her best friend of all people, scared her like an evil demon.

"You stupid lecher! Been hanging around Miroku a bit too long, no?" She said really fast, covering her face. He saw it…did he even know that she was that embarrassed not even because of what he said, but because _he _said it to her?

"Ok, ok…I'll stop. Let's watch a movie or something." He said, grabbing the remote off the nightstand next to Kagome's bed and turning on the TV. He started flipping through the channels, hoping to find anything interesting to watch.

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief-there was no way he could ever suspect just what kind of an effect he had on her. _Oh, Inuyasha…when did you become the most important person in the world to me? You love Kikyou…and although I know we're close, I'll never be as close to you as she is.___She got up from her swiveling office chair and sat down on her bed next to Inuyasha. He was leaning his head against the wall, his legs crossed Indian style.

"What do you think about "Not Another Teen Movie"? Inuyasha glanced at Kagome sitting next to him. This was the only movie that had started not long ago.

"Sure…" She trailed off, not looking at him. The less she looked, the less it hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

They finished watching the movie and it was beginning to get dark outside

Hello my dear readers! Thank you for your reviews! As sweet as short revenge sounds, this is going to be more of a long, ongoing-type of story What will Kikyou do?…her cheating sounds interesting…maybe, maybe who knows For now, though…we must have a mope-fest for our main hero! With such evil words, on with the story 

Disclaimer:** I do not own any small part of InuYasha manga or anime, and I make no money from writing this story. I also do not own any other brand-name companies/products I happen to mention.**

**Chapter 2**

They finished watching the movie and it was beginning to get dark outside. Inuyasha managed to lie down, head still resting against the wall, and Kagome hugged her knees in opposite corner of the bed. Some silly comedy show started, but Kagome didn't feel like watching it.

"That movie sucked." Inuyasha stated finally, turning his face to Kagome. _Why's she sitting so far away from me?_ He suddenly wondered. She rolled her eyes and glued them to the TV screen.

"You said it. I hate stupid teenage sex movies…they're so cheesy." She yawned and rested her head on her knees. He chuckled and decided to add an honest comment.

"I say "American Beauty" and "Fight Club" are much better." He yawned too. Kagome, for the first time moved her gaze on him, warmth radiating from her eyes.

"I know! These are like my two favorite movies!" She said and Inuyasha just said "feh" in return. She smiled-that meant he agreed. Honestly, they were so much alike…She moved closer to him and picked up a strand of his silver hair. Inuyasha just glanced at her hands, a smile ghosting his lips.

"Why don't you ever cut your hair?" She asked, flicking her eyes from his soft shiny hair to his amber orbs. He sighed, looking ahead.

"I do, but it grows back really fast." He answered and looked at Kagome's shocked face. Her mouth was slightly open.

"You cut your hair? Really? How weird! Does it grow back really fast because you're a half demon?" She asked, genuine interest shining in her eyes.

"Well, duh! I have claws, ears, and fangs in my true form too! You know that…I'm not exactly like you." He said, somewhat annoyed. Ever since he was a small kid, he had to wear concealment spells, so other humans couldn't tell he was a hanyou. Whenever others did question his silver hair and amber eyes, he always replied "None of your business!" Only Kagome, his parents, and his brother knew about his heritage. Since they met Sango and Miroku during the first year of high school, he still didn't trust them enough to tell them.

"Ooh! Show me your true form! You used to all the time…" She said somewhat sadly. Inuyasha closed his eyes and began to chant, sprouting ears and long claws. He opened his eyes to a very amused Kagome, who giggled as soon as she saw his ears.

"Oh NO! Kagome, there's no way you're going to-" Too late. She already gripped his white, furry ears, and began to rub them in such a gentle, ticklish way. Inuyasha's cheeks went red with embarrassment and pleasure at once. He'd never admit it, but he loved it when she rubbed his hanyou ears.

"Sorry! I just can't help it! They're sooo cute!" She squealed and pulled her hands away. His face was still flushed as he looked at the floor.

"Keh! Whatever." He looked away, seeing a clock with 9:47 printed on it. "Oh hey, Kagome, I gotta go home, ok? We got school tomorrow and I need to catch up on sleep." He got up and walked to the window. Kagome's face fell.

"Oh, ok. Sure Inuyasha. I'll see you tomorrow." She mumbled.

"Yeah, see you." He said over his shoulder. Kagome watched him disappear into the darkness outside of her window. A few minutes later, she got up, walked over to the window, and slowly closed it. Kagome tried biting her lip, bit it was no use. With her vision beginning to blur, she ran to her bed and plunged into her white fluffy pillow. She lay there, sobbing and shaking, cursing her fate for being so cruel.

"No, Miroku! This does not mean you can grope me!" Sango warned in a stern voice, sitting next to Miroku.

"But Sango! We are going together to a _dance_. It's only fair that I grope…erm…touch you while we dance!" Miroku protested, looking at his Homecoming date squirm from across from him. He took the time to drag his eyes slowly down her figure, looking at the tight short-sleeved shirt and tight jeans that clung to her tightly.

"There's a difference between dancing and shamelessly groping! You better not cross the line. And…stop staring at me like that!" She said, feeling completely insecure all of the sudden. Miroku, on the other hand, looked like he lived, breathed, and ate self-confidence.

"Ah, my apologies, sweet angel." He said and turned to face Kagome. Sango was beet red and for once, uncomfortable that she had nothing to slap him for.

Kagome was sitting and scribbling away her science questions and charts. She had decided to keep herself busy during lunch instead of staring at Kikyou and Inuyasha flirt on the other end of the cafeteria. She quickly turned her head and found the silver-haired boy and the porcelain Ice Princess kissing right in front of everyone and felt tears push on her eyelids.

"Kagome." She turned her head towards Miroku who looked…_sympathetic_. Did he know something? Could he possibly suspect it? Nah.

"Huh?" She dumbly replied, concentrating on keeping back the tears too much.

"Whom are you going to Homecoming with?" He asked her in a gentle voice, as if speaking to a child. He knew fully well what that question meant to her. She let out a sigh and looked at anything that wasn't Miroku.

"Um, you know…maybe I shouldn't go this year. I'll probably end up hanging out by myself." She said honestly. Yes, this was their junior year of high school and so far, she had never missed a dance. Actually, this was supposed to be Inuyasha's senior year, but he flunked a few classes and was held back a grade back in elementary school. Well, every time a dance came around, Kagome always went to the dance with Inuyasha. They didn't go as dates, of course, but rather as the two losers without dates. Funny, the dances always ended up being a blast anyways. Inuyasha was obviously going to go with Kikyou this time, so what was the point of Kagome coming along? She'd ruin the dates her friends had by being annoying.

"Nonsense, Kagome! You should go with us, I insist!" Sango jumped in, giving Kagome an insuring look. She'd stand by Kagome no matter what.

"Sango…" she trailed off. If only Sango knew why… "I'll think about it, ok?" She said and stood up from her seat, shaking breadcrumbs off of her blue sweater. "I'll be right back." She said, grabbed her purse, and stormed away to the ladies room.

"Maybe it's a good idea she stays home." Said Miroku after Kagome was out of earshot.

"No, Miroku. At a time like this, she needs to know that she still has us." Sango looked at Miroku, a final note in her tone. Miroku scrunched his face in thought, looking at the ladies room, making sure Kagome hadn't come out yet.

"Sango, I'm sure she knows that. She will only feel pain and abandonment if she goes to the dance." He said, saddened that even the dance night had to come to this. The Homecoming tradition that Kagome and Inuyasha shared is going to be broken by Kikyou.

"Think about it, if she stays cooped up for the weekend while everyone's partying, she'll begin sulking and get depressed all over again. On the other hand, she might have fun dancing, she's a great dancer!" Sango defended her friend. Stupid Inuyasha is too blind to see how she feels about him; perhaps their strong friendship will fade for a while. _That's ok, Kagome. I'm still right here with you._

"I suppose…are you looking forward to our "date"?" He said with a smirk. Sango blushed and turned to a different direction. The playful smile and that mysterious glint of those violent eyes are too much! Heck, she could blab how she feels about him right then and there! But…he was her date after all. She turned to look at him, the corners of her mouth curving into a small smile.

"Yeah…it'll be a little different this time, huh?" She said, finally letting her mask slide, now that they were alone. They always acted a bit differently when they were alone. After all, they have been friends since 5th grade.

"Oh yeah, but don't worry, the first time's always scary." He said, his smile stretching into a perverted grin. Sango was as red as a tomato when she felt his hand caress her backside.

-SLAP-

"And here I thought, we would actually have a decent conversation!" She yelled as he raised his palm to the red outline on the side of his face. He then smiled with a faraway look.

"Ah, dearest, you need not worry! There's plenty of time for those." He said, watching Sango get up and stomp off to the other side of the table. Miroku sighed. _I couldn't help it! Oh well, we're going together to the dance this weekend anyway._


End file.
